A Tell-Tale Truth
by pokeitlikejello
Summary: Agent Mulder discovers the Cigarette Smoking Man is involved with smuggling in illegals and Scully goes undercover to find out why. She ends up on a journey that takes her nearly across the country and away from everything that was familiar to her.


Mulder smiled up at her from his desk as she entered into their familiar basement office. Scully slowed her pace as she eyed him up suspiciously, knowing something was up.

"I need you to do something for me," Mulder announced.

Scully sat across from his desk. "What is it?"

"Not just for me, but for the truth," he clarified.

She frowned. "Now, I'm worried."

"I need you to go undercover," he told her.

"Okay," Scully agreed a little apprehensively, wondering why he was tip toeing around it.

"It's—" Mulder was still unsure about breaking this news to her. "—going to be a long time undercover."

"What do you want me to do, Mulder?" she asked.

He lowered his eyes to his desk for a moment, making her anxious. Mulder lifted his gaze back to her and cleared his throat.

"I need you to seduce the truth out of the Cigarette Smoking Man."

She stared at him. "_What_?"

Mulder tossed a file towards her. Scully, frowning again, picked it up and flipped through the documents and pictures as he began to explain.

"There are things being transported across the United States to Arizona. Mostly by trucks, but sometimes by trains. It all leads back to the Cigarette Smoking Man. We need to find out what's in those containers."

She looked up at him, raising an eyebrow as well. "And why can't we just go after the containers?"

"It's either aliens or biological warfare," Mulder said. "I don't want to crash in on biological warfare."

Scully tossed the file back to his desk. "How do you know it's that important, Mulder?"

"Because CSM wouldn't keep it from his colleagues if it wasn't big," he replied.

"What makes you think he's keeping it from them?" she asked him. "And what makes you think he'd even confide in me?"

"They don't know." Mulder shook his head slightly. "I'm sure of that."

Scully was still doubtful, and he didn't answer her second question. "How can he pull off a project this big that they don't know about?"

"That's what you'll find out," he told her, now getting excited about his plan again.

"He's not going to tell me about any of this, Mulder," she replied.

"That's why this is going to be a long project."

Mulder stood from his chair and made his way over to the filing cabinet. He opened the top drawer and skimmed over the files.

"There's no way this will work," Scully said, her eyes on his backside.

He faced her, another file in hand. "Won't know it 'til you try it."

"You've got to be kidding," she tried to make him understand her point. "There is no way that man would believe I was on his side."

"You don't need to be on his side, you just need to get him to think you want in his pants."

Mulder went back to his seat and sat down. He opened the file and pulled out a sheet of paper with several restaurants and bars listed on it.

Scully shook her head. "He'd never go for that."

"You personally know this?" Mulder asked.

She frowned. "I know he'd never buy it. What makes you think he would?"

"He's lonely." Mulder handed the paper over to her. "This is a list of places he goes to on occasion. The bar at the top is the one he most often visits. We'll start there and we'll start slow."

Scully scanned the list critically. "He'll see right through it."

"And we'll keep at it until his vision is blurred," Mulder replied.

Drawing in a breath, Scully lifted her head and made eye contact with Mulder. "Even if we did get him to think I was trustworthy, what makes _you_ think he would tell me? He's not that kind of man, Mulder."

He shrugged. "It's worth a shot. If it's important enough to the Cigarette Smoking Man to keep this from his colleagues, then it's important enough for us to know what it is."

"But, doesn't it seem suspicious or strange that we know about it and they don't?" She raised her eyebrows at him, knowing she had a point.

"He's very secretive and sly with it," Mulder offered to her. "I think he's kept things from them before, Scully. He's too good at lying."

She still wasn't convinced. "And how did _you_ find out about this, Mulder?"

"Stumbled onto some documents that didn't make sense," he answered honestly. "I investigated it further and took those pictures in the file there last weekend."

"I knew you were lying when you said you were going camping," she said. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Didn't want to drag you into it until I knew for sure," he replied.

Scully reached for the file with the pictures and opened it. She examined the picture of the Cigarette Smoking Man directing an unmarked truck to turn left before looking back at Mulder.

"We've got our work cut out for us on this one, huh?"

Mulder nodded. "That we do. More so you than me though, Scully."

* * *

Three weeks later, Scully found herself at the same bar for the third night in a row. It was a waiting game to see if he'd show. She was beginning to worry she would soon become a regular at this dark and smoky bar while waiting for him.

Scully sipped her rum and coke, glad to unwind a bit as compared to the last two nights when she just had diet cokes. Of course, she wouldn't tell Mulder that she was drinking 'on the job.' However, she was a bit annoyed that she had to spend hours inhaling secondhand smoke while he got to remain at home.

Just as she had finished off her drink, she heard the familiar voice from behind her, making her tense and her skin crawl.

"Agent Scully."

She turned on her stool and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Oh, it's you."

"I didn't know you come to this place."

The Cigarette Smoking Man eyed her up and took a drag off his cigarette.

"Likewise." She stood. "And now, I should be going."

"Wait. The night is young." He looked to the bartender. "She'll have another."

"No." Scully shook her head at the Cigarette Smoking Man. "But, thank you."

The bartender placed another mixed drink on the counter and walked away. Scully glanced at the drink before looking back at the Cigarette Smoking Man. He cocked his head slightly to the side.

"You wouldn't want to be in my bad graces by refusing my hospitality, would you?"

Scully sat back down on the stool and took a sip from her drink. He smirked and took the seat beside her. The bartender brought over a Scotch on the Rocks for him. The Cigarette Smoking Man took a puff from his cigarette and a sip from his drink before looking back over at Scully.

"Where's Agent Mulder tonight?"

She lifted her eyebrows at him. "Home, I guess."

He appeared surprised. "You don't know?"

"No," she answered.

"Does he know you're here alone?" Cigarette Smoking Man asked her, pulling it off as casual before taking another drag from his cigarette.

"No," she said, pressing her lips together.

"Hm."

Cigarette Smoking Man reached for his glass and took a sip from it while Scully downed hers. She stood from her stool.

"I should really get going," she told him.

He didn't say anything in return, just took another drag. Scully cleared her throat and walked out of the bar, feeling his eyes follow her exit.

Once she was outside, Scully pulled out her cell phone. She called Mulder and waited through two rings before he picked up.

"The seed has been planted," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

"You actually _drank_ with him?"

Mulder was amused. Scully was sitting in the chair in front of his desk, her arms folded over her chest. She stared at him as he stood across from her.

"He bought me a drink. What was I suppose to do?"

"No, that's great, Scully," he insisted, a smile still on his face. "That's a step in the right direction. This is perfect."

"I still don't think this is going to work."

"It might. If we play it right. You'll go to the bar a few times next week. If he's there, great; but if not, even better. It'll make it seem as if you're not just there when he is. And then you'll also go on the same day and time as last night. Hopefully he's a regular customer on that day."

She shook her head, not pleased. "Mulder, I don't want to do this anymore. I think there are better ways."

"Aw, come on, Scully," he replied as he made his way over to the chair behind his desk. "You get to be the undercover FBI agent. It's perfect."

"But, it isn't," she argued. "What we're doing right now, it's like him going to you and trying to be on your side, Mulder. He will never go for it."

"It's not like that, Scully," he told her as he sat down. "You're going to make him believe you're fed up with this and _he'll_ offer you something more."

"And if he doesn't?" she asked, lifting her eyebrows.

"Then, we'll try something else," he answered.

She shrugged slightly. "All right."

"Look, as we go along, if we find a better way to get into those trucks or to the place he's keeping his secrets, we'll do it," Mulder said. "But, I think this can be our best option. It's unexpected and he won't suspect we know anything by putting ourselves somewhere we don't belong, like in Arizona."

"He might already think something is up by putting me at that bar," she pointed out.

"He might," Mulder agreed, but then gave a shrug. "But then, he might not."

* * *

Scully stepped into the elevator, glad her long day at the FBI Headquarters was reaching a close. She had been tired four hours ago, but somehow she managed to lose track of time so that she was leaving when it was nearly ten at night. Her shoes echoed as she stepped into the parking garage and headed for her car.

She pulled her keys from her purse as she came closer to her car. She immediately froze, however, when she saw a shadow move. It was behind the pillar near were she had parked.

Scully reached for her gun as quietly as possible. She unbuttoned the holster and took her gun out. She aimed it toward the pillar as she began to approach her car again. There was movement and someone stepped out from behind the pillar.

"Freeze!" she called out as she saw the glow of a cigarette.

The Cigarette Smoking Man stepped into the light as he blew smoke from his mouth. Scully still kept her gun aimed at him.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded to know.

"You're here awfully late," he commented, smirking slightly.

"I was working," she told him, gun still cocked.

"On what?" he asked calmly.

"That's none of your business," she answered.

"Would you mind putting the gun down?"

Scully held eye contact with him for a moment before returning her gun to her holster. He lit another cigarette and took a drag from it. He offered his open pack out toward her.

"Care for one?"

"I don't smoke."

"That's too bad." He returned the pack to his pocket.

"What are you doing here?" she repeated her previous question.

"Came to see what case you're working on," he said as he took a step toward her.

"What's it to you?" she responded as she went toward her driver's side door.

"Curiosity," Cigarette Smoking Man replied as he made his way around her car towards her.

"A case in New Jersey," Scully told him. "Several people have gone missing and then turned up dead. The town believes it has something to do with a lake."

She wasn't lying. Aside from their case with the Cigarette Smoking Man, Mulder and Scully still kept up on other X-files. He must have believed she was telling the truth, because he stopped looking at her so critically.

"Why do you think they're going missing?" he asked her as he stopped at the door to the back seat.

Scully unlocked her car door. "A serial killer."

"And Agent Mulder?" Cigarette Smoking Man prompted.

She turned her head toward him and made eye contact. "The Water Wookie."

"That's a little far fetched, don't you think?" He took a drag from his cigarette.

"I really need to get home."

She opened her car door, but he stepped closed to her and placed his free hand at the top of her door, closing it. He kept his arm there, dangerously close to touching hers. She could feel him behind her, no more than a few inches away. She turned her head back to look at him.

"Have a good night," he said and stepped away from her.

"Yeah," she replied quietly, her heart nearly beating out of her chest. "Goodnight."

Scully quickly climbed into the car and started it up. She could still smell his cigarette smoke as she pulled out of her parking space. As she sped away, she could see him in her review mirror, taking a drag from his cigarette.


End file.
